Anglophone lawyers meet in Bamenda, Bar Prez sidelined

Former President of the Cameroon Bar Council, Barrister Eta-Besong Jr. has said the All Anglophone Lawyers’ Conference coming up in Bamenda , Saturday, May 9, have nothing to do with the agenda of the Southern Cameroon’s National Council, SCNC. He insists that the conclave is apolitical.

Eta-Besong was categorical that the President of the Cameroon Bar Association, Ngnie Kamga, who is not an Anglophone, will not be welcome at the Bamenda assembly.Here is an excerpt of the interview we had with him.

Q: On the creation of an Anglophone Bar Association, he says such a dream is farfetched and unconstitutional. Excerpts; What takes Anglophone Lawyers to Bamenda this weekend?

A: There are some events which have taken place of late necessitating the Anglophone lawyers to assemble and come out with a common position as to where we go from here. That is exactly what will be taking us to Bamenda.

Q: What are some of the issues expected to feature on the agenda of the conference?

A: We have to talk first about the language which should be used in the courts in the North West and South West Regions by all the actors in the courtroom. We have to talk about submissions and procedural rules, as well as form.

We’ll talk about our general conduct as people who work in the temple of justice – the court. Our interpersonal relationships will also come under focus. In short, there are lots of things that will feature on the agenda.

You probably might have forgotten to mention that there will be talks on the creation of an Anglophone Bar Association.

Q: To the best of my knowledge, that is not our purpose of going to Bamenda. You must know that the Bar in Cameroon is regulated by a law and so to talk about the creation of an Anglophone Bar is farfetched. How do you go about such? Do you create it as a breakaway of the present bar? How does it have its recognition?

A: These are all issues that if raised will have to be looked into. We can’t just create a bar because you fancy creating a bar.

You must create the bar in accordance with the law. In my mind, I don’t think that is a topic so far. But if it comes, we will have to look at it in relation to the December 1990 law relating to practice at the Bar.

Q: Will an All Anglophone Lawyers Union be created and registered?

A: Yes. An all Anglophone Lawyer’s Conference is going to be created with regional and divisional branches. But you know there is the Cameroon Common Law Lawyers Association which is registered. So, a conference is another creation. We’ll comply with the text on associations. This meeting in Bamenda may be seen as the constituent assembly for the conference.

Q: What will become of the Common Law Lawyers Association that already exists? Is this a ploy to kill it?

A: No! I think they will be complementary. I think duplication wouldn’t create conflicts. I don’t see how conflict will arise; we’ll all be fighting for the same course. If we can work in synergy, whether there are 20 associations, we’ll arrive the same end.

Q: Will you be going to Bamenda to address the same issues handled weeks back by the Presidents of the Bar and the General Assembly?

A: The president of the Bar Association and that of the Bar General Assembly talked about the issues of language but where is the documentation of the solution? I think that the meeting in Bamenda will have documentation that will go to the appropriate quarters as to what we common law lawyers hold. It is not going to be discussed; we’ll come out with resolutions.

Q: Will the presidents of the Bar and the general assembly be welcomed at the Bamenda lawyers’ conclave?

A: The president of the Cameroon Bar Association is not an Anglophone and so he has no place to attend. The president of the General Assembly of the Bar (Ntumfor Nico Halle) is an Anglophone and so is free to attend. There is no compulsion, but you must conform to the membership to attend. This is an All Anglophones Lawyers’ Conference and only Anglophone lawyers will have accreditation to the meeting.

Q: There are those who see secessionist underpinnings in the Bamenda meeting. Is it in any way connected to the ideals of the Southern Cameroons National Council, the SCNC?

A: No! I don’t think that is the case. Legal practice is apolitical. We don’t choose our clients. If you are SDF and a CPDM client comes to you or vice versa, you can’t send the client away. We don’t have any political leaning and we don’t care what political parties or pressure groups think about the political issues in Cameroon. We are talking about professional issues, not political issues.

Q: What has become of your calls against the appointment of Notaries in English Cameroon? What engagements did you enter with government to backpedal on your planned strike action?

A: No documents have been signed so far. Lawyers in the North West and South West came up with memoranda which they forwarded to the minister, but now we are coming together as all Anglophone legal practitioners to take a resolution. Whatever resolutions we take will be channelled to the relevant quarters.

Q: Law Schools are common with Common Law societies. Will there be talks on the creation of an Anglophone Law School since government seems to be hesitating to create one for the country?

A: I don’t know what issues will be raised during the meeting. The organising committee has asked for Anglophone lawyers to forward opinions and suggestions. I think the organising committee will make a catalogue of all these issues and they will address this to the general assembly and we’ll look at it. If the creation of a law school is there, so be it; that will be good. I want to be very pragmatic.

There are those who have talked about the creation of a law school in the University of Buea and in some other universities. I don’t know under what canopy that is said.

Q: Admission into the Cameroon Bar is governed by the 1990 law. The law as at now says you can be admitted to the Cameroon Bar if you are a Cameroonian called to a foreign bar. What I ask is if the University of Buea Law School, if created, will be considered a foreign bar?

A: We must talk as lawyers. The creation of a law school will necessitate an amendment to the law regulating practice at the bar. There are huddles to be overcome which are though not insurmountable.

Q: The Bar seems to have more problems now than when you were president of the association. What accounts for this?

A: No. I don’t think that there are more problems. The problems have always been there but there are times when some of these problems shoot out and they must be tackled as they come. A mountain may exist, but will not get attention as long as it doesn’t erupt.

Once there is a volcanic action, people get worried. There are eminent eruptions in the Bar and we must take the bull by the horns.

Q: You admit that these problems existed when you were Bar President. Why did you not attend to them?

A: I handled the problems my own way. You can imagine the problems of Notary Public came up when I was Bar President and I had to go to the North West and South West to talk to colleagues about it. I met with the then Minister of Justice and subdued whatever was in the offing. But the problems are coming out now. There are individuals in the magistracy who have their own opinions about things which are irritating the advocates.

It is a different ball game we are talking about. But I had handled all the problems that came my way when I was Bar President, as best as I could. The administrative officials have not altered anything. Some people in the Ministry of Justice are struggling to erode the common law heritage.

Q: It will seem there are black legs among Common Law lawyers; when you were against the appointment of Notary Public in the two Anglophone regions, some Common Law lawyers had applied to be appointed. Do you see blacklegs killing this new initiative?

A: I don’t know of any profession where all its practitioners are saints. There are bound to have those who are for and those who are against. If they are called blacklegs, I don’t know. I don’t call them blacklegs; I call them those who have alternate opinion.

We can’t stop an Anglophone lawyer from attending the conference. We are very democratic. We cannot prejudge anybody. The majority position will prevail. These are crucial times and we need that crucial decision to set things going.